


A Doubtful Orchid

by Zerodyne



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Romantic if you squint, ran has low self-esteem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25409770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerodyne/pseuds/Zerodyne
Summary: Ran questions if she's truly fit to be Yukina's rival or not.
Relationships: Minato Yukina/Mitake Ran
Kudos: 24





	A Doubtful Orchid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CaramelAme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaramelAme/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Ame! 🎉
> 
> I somehow managed to write this despite my jelly brain. Enjoy!

_ “Toki no namima de kizuna ga hodokete mo, _

_ Nando demo musubi naoseba i sa. _

_ Atashi no senaka wo shinjite tsuite kite, _

_ Tomo ni itai to negau riyū wo daite... _

_ Tsunagou...” _

Strums of guitar accompanied the serenade as it rang across the studio room, making it livelier than it was before. Ran would prefer being able to rehearse together with her band… but she felt the need to improve further before she could do that. Therefore, in her lonesome, she devoted her time to a solo practice session. It has been a week since she committed herself to these sessions, and she made sure not to tell her friends about it. Otherwise, they would just scold her for working too hard.

Compared to her feeling of inadequacy, however… she convinced herself that it's all worth the effort.

Not too long ago, she watched Roselia's performance in  _ Future World Fes _ — an event that has been their goal since the very beginning. That performance, for her, was mesmerizing. Especially… the vocalist. Throughout the entire performance, Ran felt so entranced by her vocals, no matter which song she sang on stage. Just how immaculate she was in that concert… it kept coming back to Ran's mind. Haunting her.

You see, that vocalist had accepted her as her rival some time before that. For a while, Ran thought that this meant that she was her equal. But after watching that performance… Ran felt so left behind that she didn't even see her rival's first step. It was like a reality check, one that showed that she's far from being an equal rival to her.

Hence, the solo practices. She's been working way too hard as a result of this, trying to improve her vocals and guitar playing. But no matter how much she practiced, things still felt stagnant. She's still playing and singing in a way that's the same as always.

But she didn't want that. She wanted to improve, to move forward… to feel equal to her rival. And yet, she can't seem to do it.

“...ow!”

Amidst her thoughts, she strummed her string too briskly and accidentally rammed her thumb with it. As a result, there's now a cut on her thumb, blood spewing out from it.

“Kh… of all the times,” Ran grunted. She moved her guitar aside and scrambled through her bag. By any chance, did she bring any band-aids? 

“Are you looking for these?”

Ran spun her head around in an instant. That voice, it's...

“M—Minato-san?!”

Ran didn't even hear Yukina's footsteps, nor the creak of the studio door as she went in. Suddenly, she's just… here. 

Yukina looked rather curious, her hand stretched forward. She held a strip of band-aids, staring first to the other's eyes, then to her injured hand.

“Here, let me help you with that,” said Yukina, reaching for Ran's hand and pulling it forward.

“I—I can do it myself!” yelled Ran once she broke out from her trance, yanking her hand away and snatching the band-aid from Yukina's hand, ripping one pack open and applying the band-aid on her thumb. Yukina just sighed and watched.

“...nice, uh… pattern,” Ran commented, the band-aid now sealing her wound with a cute cat pattern. 

Yukina shrugged. “That's the only one I have.”

Okay, they're veering off the point here. Ran huffed and turned to Yukina again, this time with a stern look on her face.

“Why are you here?”

“Same reason you're here. Though, I heard you singing when I headed to my studio room, so I decided to pay a visit.” Yukina replied callously, before riposting with a question of her own. “Usually you'd practice with your bandmates. Where are they?”

“Nowhere,” Ran answered, her tone of voice painfully dry. “I just feel like practicing by myself. Is that wrong?”

Yukina clenched her teeth, pocketing her fist in disgruntlement. “No, it isn't…” 

“Shouldn't you be practicing in your own studio room now?” Ran continued, trying to sound as displeased as she could. “...not like you needed any practice anyway,” she went on with a quiet mutter. 

Unfortunately, Yukina seemed to have heard that. “Of course I need practice,” she replied, her brows furrowing at once. “In order for Roselia to reach the top, I must maintain the quality of my vocals.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” mocked Ran, her eyes rolling away from the other vocalist.

“...Mitake-san, have I done something to anger you?” asked Yukina, a sharp frown forming on her lips.

“Me? Angry at you?!” Ran spat furiously. “What if I say yes, what will you do?!”

Contrasting to Ran's yelling, Yukina remained steady. “I will ask what that something is, and I will try to remedy that.”

“Well, there's nothing you can do!  _ Nothing!  _ Because the only person I'm angry at is myself!”

Ran's whole body shook with uncontrolled rage. She drew heavy breaths and turned her face away from Yukina, all red with fury and embarrassment. Meanwhile, Yukina remained silent, though she didn't look as vexed as before. She stared at the other, waiting for her to cool down.

“...Minato-san, there's something that I must admit to you,” Ran spoke up again, though her face was still averted from Yukina. “I think… I think you should stop calling me your rival.”

Yukina's eyes widened, puzzled by this sudden request. “Why?”

“Just… stop. I can't do it anymore. I'm not good enough.”

“Mitake-san, I'll be the judge of that—”

“And I know that you'll think I'm not equal to you!” 

Ran's voice shook as she yelled, leaving Yukina in strained silence. “Your performance at  _ Future World Fes _ … it was a level beyond what I can reach now. While I'm still sitting here at the bottom, you're already on the top with your skills and talents. How can I call myself equal to you if that's the case?” 

“...that's why you've been practicing all by yourself?”

“Yeah. But even now, even when I'm working beyond my limits... I still can't reach your level. Maybe, I never will be. I'm just someone naive who has the audacity to think that I can be your rival.”

Glancing at her bandaged thumb, Ran grimaced. “So… Minato-san, you can stop calling me your rival, or your equal… because I'm clearly not. Not even close.” 

Yukina could hear the feeling of defeat in Ran's words. She could see her eyes, fighting back the tears about to fall. Her trembling hands, frustrated by her inability to keep up. She thought about what to say for a moment, then… 

“The song you were playing…  _ 'Tied to The Skies' _ , right? I want you to sing it with me.”

“What…?”

Staring at the other in disbelief, Ran squinted to see any hint of jokes or sarcasm in Yukina's expression… but no, she looked as serious as she can be. What's with this all of a sudden?

“You heard me. Sing it now, and I'll try to harmonize with you,” Yukina demanded.

“A—alright, geez… you don't have to be so pushy,” Ran complained. Her hands shifted back to her guitar, steadying her breath.

_ “Yume monogatari ja, owaraseru mon ka, _

_ Sōda yo tsurete yuke…” _

She began to sing in a much slower tempo, playing the intro of the song. Once it comes to the first verse, Yukina began to accompany her singing, harmonizing with her as promised. Ran didn't know what to make of this at first— not only did Yukina know the lyrics of the song, her voice fitted like a glove with her own. It really felt like they were in sync with each other, their vocals complementing one another to elevate the performance in a way Ran had never experienced before.

Well… not exactly. She did experience this before— numerous times, even —when she performed with Afterglow. What she felt with her bandmates… she felt it too with Yukina, albeit in a different way.

The song ended, but Ran could still hear Yukina's voice ringing through her ears. But this time, it wasn't as overwhelming as what she heard in FWF. Somehow… it just felt natural. If she could, she wanted more of it.

Actually...

“C—can we sing again?” asked Ran, before she even realized what she just said. “A Roselia song this time…  _ 'Neo-Aspect' _ , how about that one?”

Though a bit taken aback, Yukina nodded. Ran started playing the chords, while Yukina began to sing.

_ “Utsukushiki inochi no enrei, _

_ Tsumugareta shirabe umare yuku michi _

_ Believe me this is the right way.” _

It felt strangely natural for Ran to follow along, even if she had never performed this song in front of someone— let alone the actual singer. The two harmonized their voices again, this time with Yukina taking the lead. However, Ran didn't feel left behind at all… her voice complemented Yukina's so well, adding an extra punch to it that made the song even better.

The two finished their second duet before they knew it, Ran still mesmerized with how well it went. Yukina, on the other hand… didn't look as surprised.

“Mitake-san, I don't care if you haven't gotten your techniques down. I don't care if you feel that your voice is inferior to mine. As long as we can keep up with each other, as long as we remain side by side… I will always regard you as a rival. That's all that matters.” 

“Minato-san…” 

To hear that from her was like recieving a hard slap in the face. Yukina just single-handedly dispelled all doubts in her mind and proved to her that she was wrong. 

And for once… Ran was happy to be in the wrong.

“Thank you…” she muttered, a smile slowly emerging from her lips. “I'll… I'll do my best to keep it that way. You better not slack off too, Minato-san.”

Yukina returned the smile. “Of course not. I won't go easy on you, Mitake-san.”

Ran nodded promptly. She's not going to doubt herself anymore— she's Minato Yukina's equal, and she's going to work hard to keep it that way.


End file.
